Unintended Choices
by CaptainHooked
Summary: Jones was to fix her, and maybe, just maybe, she would fix him a little along the way too. - in which two broken souls collide. Likely to span over 10 chapters. (Chapter 4 onwards set after Tallahassee and AU)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I dont own OUAT or its characters.**

**Author's note: This is my first ever fic. I just had too many Killian Jones feels i didn't know what to do with so i channeled them into something i deemed more productive than staring at pictures of him all day and internally screaming while lamenting that i'll never find a man like him. I know its short but its just a stupid prologue and i used some quotes off my tumblr captions, in case you found some of it familiar. I'm still trying to figure out where to take this story and i hope i dont fail terribly and ruin these beautiful characters because i dont think i could ever live with that. And with that, i hope you enjoy this short introduction, or at least read it and not feel like wrenching your gut out. Thanks (:**

He never worked hard for anything in his life. Whatever he wanted, he took. It was a perk that came with being a pirate, amongst others. Killian Jones lavished the freedom. Sailing the high seas and hunting for his next adventure was exhilarating and nothing brought him greater pleasure. The rum, the women – he had it all. Graced with devilishly handsome looks and poised with charm, ladies never failed to succumb to his desires.

That was all and well, until_ love_ was thrown into the mix. They tell you love is the most powerful magic of all, that love transcends boundaries. Well, if that was true, it certainly didn't work out that way for him. Love. It was like getting your heart ripped out unwillingly and letting someone control it. It was weakness. It could lift you high, but it would always bring you crashing down. Love was unnecessary pain, and Killian Jones swore he would never fall for such delusions again.

Guilt, he did let himself feel. Guilt over Milah's death. If he hadn't let her run away with him, maybe she wouldn't have died. If he'd killed that wretched crocodile while he had the chance, she would still be here. Here with him. Instead, Killian found himself stranded on a cursed land with a whiny princess, her female-warrior-bodyguard, the legendary Snow White and her stubborn-as-hell daughter. He'd heard the stories about Snow and her beloved Prince Charming. Perhaps true love did exist, but never for people like him. Broken, tortured souls didn't live to see a happily ever after.


	2. Part 1: When two broken souls collide

**Author's Note: Hi again. I realise this is yet another relatively short chapter, and i think i'm going to stick to this format. I find long chapters exhausting to read sometimes and so i decided to make mine shorter. This way, i can update more regularly. If all goes smoothly, i expect this fic to consist of many many chapters. I know i just posted the prologue a couple hours ago, but i figured it was too short and managed to type this up in time. Hope you enjoy! (:**

Emma. How that horribly infuriating woman managed to get under his skin, he would never understand. She was obnoxious and bull-headed, with serious trust issues. She tried to feed him to an ogre, for heaven's sake! But he figured if he was going to get stuck with anyone, it might as well be her. She was tough and distant, but that was what she _wanted_ you to see. Killian had enough experience with pain to know exactly what that woman tried so hard to hide – her broken soul. Sure, Emma put her walls up. She was skeptical and perceptive. But that just made her all the more intriguing. She was a princess, but she carried herself quite the opposite. The woman was full of surprises and it wasn't hard to see how she wormed her way into Killian's attentions. Of course, her good looks made her harder to ignore.

However, that didn't mean he lost sight of his mission for a second. He knew what he was here to do. He wanted vengeance. He didn't like to admit it, but a small part of him hoped exacting revenge would ease the guilt he's carried since Milah's unfortunate passing. He'd let his 'comrades' believe his revenge had to do with the loss of his hand, but for some reason he had a nagging feeling Emma didn't quite fall for that. He didn't know why it bothered him that she could read him about as well as he could her. Why, he was Captain Hook after all! She'd already bested him once, which really should have hurt his ego, but only intrigued him further. How someone could anger, humiliate yet excite him at the same time is beyond him.

Having women tie his hands (hand?) together and push him around would, under normal circumstances, not be possible, but he figured nothing about this situation was remotely ordinary. Captain Hook would never let four women subdue him and give him orders, but somehow it didn't seem to faze him. He rather seemed to enjoy it.

"Why,_ princess_. However did you spot my lie? I pride myself on my ability to spout fibs and yet you are amongst the first to have seen past them." He quickened his pace to catch up with her blonde tresses a few feet ahead of him. Staying a few steps behind offered him a great view, but he wanted to strike up a conversation. Killian hoped to evoke a response in her, just as she did him.

"I've met my fair share of men like you. Sleazy and cunning. Now stop invading my personal space, and _don't_ call me princess again if you treasure your pretty face." The pirate walking beside her unnerved her, and she didn't have a clue why. Emma always thought she was calm under pressure, but having this _stupid _Hook around made her uncomfortable. Why couldn't he have been uglier and creepier like the movie set him out to be? Not that she'd _ever_ admit to finding him attractive in a dark, handsome and mysterious kind of way.

"_Ahh, so you do find me attractive!_ I always knew my charms were difficult to resist," he smirked.

Damn it all, she cursed internally. How could she have let that one slip? Stupid, stupid mistake. She'll never hear the end of this one.

"Oh, shut up,_ Hook_. Or I'll _really_ cut you," she growled, mustering up the most menacing snarl she could under such circumstances. She never fell for these antics before, and she sure as hell wont now. Just because he's a handsome pirate doesn't mean he's not like the other douchebags she's met. Emma was determined not to let this annoyingly charming man affect her more than he already has.

"_Ooh._ I like it when you're all fired up," he chuckled, even as he backed away. As much as he liked to provoke Emma, Killian wasn't planning on getting involved. He swore off relationships for a reason and this ball-of-fire woman was no exception. He just liked to push her buttons and relish in her reactions.

Trudging through the dense forest in relative silence made it easier for Emma to ignore the lewd glances that damned pirate threw her way and she made it a point to glare at him out of the corner of her eye every so often to keep him in his place. After an excruciatingly long period of exchanged looks, they finally made it to their destination...in the middle of nowhere.

"Let me guess. The compass is up there." Emma managed to force those words out of her lips even as she feasted her eyes on the sight before her. Just like 'Jack and the Beanstalk', there was a humongous mass of vines sprouting up from the ground into the clouds above. Only in reality, the beanstalk looked a lot more morbid and had a threatening presence about it.

"Oh yeah," the pirate replied, obviously amused by Emma's astonishment.

"So how do we get to it?" she enquired cautiously.

"Its not the climb we need to worry about. Its the giant at the top," Hook answered. He couldn't resist scaring the princess with the prospect of a large, menacing giant. Emma always acted so tough and he wondered if she really lived up to it. He loved seeing the fiery woman squirm. After all, she was his only source of entertainment until he could reach Storybrooke to exact his revenge on a certain unsuspecting crocodile.


	3. Part 2: A beginning and an end

**Author's Note: I'm genuinely surprised by the positive response to this fic! I didn't think anyone could stand it, much less enjoy it. But thank you all for the reviews and follows! This is going to be a long chapter, because I plan on covering all the events of 'Tallahassee' before the next one. Everything that happens in that episode will happen here, along with everything that's said. I know it will be a little repetitive, so I tried to skip some parts. The events in this chapter are all canon, which i'm sure everyone is familiar with, so i summarised the plot. I promise the next chapter will be different. I tried to continue showing both perspectives because some of you seemed to like that. Hope you enjoy!**

"Killing me is going to take a lot more than that, dearie!" Those words haunted Killian's dreams, and if he let himself admit it, even his waking moments. Rumplestiltskin controlled magic and the cursed crocodile almost seemed impossible to defeat. But damn him if he wasn't going to try anyway.

He supposed that was what lead him here, about to risk his life climbing a blimey beanstalk to retrieve a compass rumoured to have magical properties. It all seemed a little far-fetched when Cora explained it, but he didn't have much of a choice. This was the only way he could get one step closer to vengeance. For Milah, and for himself.

...

"I was hoping it'd be you," he grinned. That sly, cheeky grin of his the pirate couldn't quite wipe off his face every time he talked to her. Emma didn't want to find it so amusing, but she couldn't help herself. Hook was a tough man with a mischievous sense about him and the contrast was too striking to ignore. She managed a crooked smile.

"Don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second," she insisted.

"I would _despair_ if you did," Killian replied, smirking as he saw the effect he had on her. The woman didn't like to admit it, but she was just as susceptible to his charms as every other woman. Emma just hid it a lot better.

He wasn't joking when he'd told the princess he was glad she decided to accompany him. The whiny Aurora wouldn't have done any good, tough-warrior Mulan would just have been horrible company, and Snow didn't seem to like him one bit. Emma on the other hand, was refreshing.

...

"Most men take your silence as off-putting, but I love a challenge." They'd been climbing for almost an hour now, and she'd barely said a word to him. If Emma had been any other woman, he wouldn't have cared less, but she was different and Killian wanted to know her better. He couldn't really explain his fascination with her, but he chalked it up to nothing more than curiosity. After all, how often do you meet a princess as…_charming_ as her?

"I'm concentrating," she managed. She'd been trying her hardest to ignore the man, but his was the only face she'd see for the next 10 hours or so. Emma figured she might as well talk to him. Hook didn't seem quite so irritating when they were alone together, even if she could only admit that to herself. But honestly? What did the pirate expect? Its not as if she climbed freakishly massive beanstalks every other day for fun. This stuff was _exhausting_.

"No, you're afraid. Afraid to talk – to _reveal_ yourself. But trust me, things will be a lot smoother if you do." Killian could see past her pretenses fairly clearly. The woman guarded herself fiercely, and he found himself admiring that. He only understood her intentions too well, for he guarded his soul too.

"You should be used to people not trusting you," Emma retorted. It was hard not to be snappy and painfully unlikeable to men like him, with their charms and egos, so she didn't bother trying. Part of her hoped it would put Hook off so that he might just leave her alone. It yielded the opposite result. But then again, when did this pirate ever_ not _surprise her?

"Ahh, the pirate thing. Well, I don't need you to share. You're something of an open book," Killian suggested vaguely. It seemed to pique the woman's interest. The pirate inwardly smirked. She thought she masked herself well and it delighted him to know he could see past that into her soul. He found immense pleasure in igniting such a response from her. Killian was pretty sure he's got her pegged, but he also knew she would never fail to surprise him.

"Am I?" Emma asked. She tried her best to sound nonchalant, but she knew he could see past it without any effort. All her life, people around her only saw what she wanted them to see, but this infuriating pirate comes along and strips her of her walls. She didn't want to let him know he affected her in any way.

"Quite. I'd say you volunteered to come up here because you were the most _motivated_. You need to get back to a child," he began. Killian was about to elaborate, but not before the damned woman interrupted.

"That's not perception. That's eavesdropping," she insisted, attempting to shield her relief. Maybe the pirate couldn't read her after all.

"_Ahh_, but you don't want to abandon him the way you were abandoned," he claims, surprisingly empathetic. Somehow it unnerved Emma. Pirates weren't supposed to show sympathy. Why couldn't Hook be awful and insensitive?

"Was I?" she replied, hesitant. Stupid pirate.

"Like I said, open book," he smirks, clearly proud of his deductive skills. Watching her suddenly become vulnerable proved to be a lot of fun. He liked that he could pry her out of her shell, even if she wasn't willing. Despite her belief, the princess's walls were painfully transparent, especially when it came to him.

"Love has been all too rare in your life, hasn't it? Have you ever _been_ in love?" Killian asked, prodding her to reveal more of herself. Emma saw the sincerity in his eyes and it frightened her. She wasn't supposed to let him affect her, yet he'd already figured out her whole life story. That startled her into snapping back into her shell, determined to keep Hook out.

"No. I have never been in love," she replied calmly, her mask back into place. Jones felt an exasperating sense of defeat. He wasn't sure why. The pirate only meant to see how far he could push Emma's buttons but he found himself struggling with a genuine sense of protectiveness over her. He could see that she too, was a lost soul and he empathised with that. But that didn't mean he _cared_, Hook told himself. Pirates like him didn't care for rich, pampered princesses. He ignored the part of him that said she was nothing like that.

...

"Your hand - it's cut; let me help you," Killian insisted when they reached the top of the beanstalk. He could see that the princess was tired, but admired that she never complained about it. Not even once.

"No, no. Its fine," Emma replied, unwilling to let the pirate help her. She didn't want to be close to him if she didn't have to.

"No, its not," he interrupted, using his hook to pull her to his side. His tone was gentle but firm.

"So _now_ you're going to be a gentleman?" she asked. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why he even _cared_.

"Giants can smell blood," he replied, secretly ecstatic that she even called him that. "And i'm always a gentleman," the pirate added, just for measure. That was the first compliment she ever paid him. He decided to overlook the fact that she was just trying to be sarcastic.

Killian pulled his worn scarf off his neck and confidently wrapped it around Emma's cut palm. With one hand, he could only use his mouth to tie the knot. Staring into her intense blue eyes, he pulled one end of the scarf with his teeth, mouth dangerously close to her skin. Emma squirmed slightly and couldn't help but stare back into his ocean-coloured irises. Jones could see a slight blush creeping up her cheeks pale from exhaustion and felt his ego swell about 10 times its size. He loved forcing his way into her personal space and watching her try to resist him. No woman could ever do it as well as this princess and everyone knew Captain Hook loved a challenge.

"Who's Milah on the tattoo?" Emma asked, surprising herself with her curiosity. She noticed it as he bandaged her wounds. She never meant for Hook to interest her as much as he did, but she found that she couldn't resist.

Her question snapped Killian out of his thoughts. Damned woman. He wanted to open_ her_ up and get under_ her_ skin, not the other way round. "Someone from long ago," he replied, his tone clipped. He didn't want to reveal himself to her, but saw it fair to be honest. For some reason, he didn't want to lie to her.

"Where is she?" the princess asked kindly. She didn't want to press Hook too hard. Emma merely wanted to know him better; to understand him. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't find him so mysterious and hopefully lose interest fast.

"She's gone," he stated, intending for the conversation to end there. But the annoying woman continued.

"Gold...Rumpelstiltskin. He took more than your hand from you, didn't he? Thats why you wanna kill him," she said. She figured if he could worm his way into her past, she had the right to do the same. Seeing Hook so..._vulnerable_ was something she'd never expect from a pirate. Emma held great pride in her ability to read people, and even though this pirate could see past her walls, it didn't make him any different. She saw that he had a tortured soul, that he once had a great capacity for love. Enough love to motivate his quest for revenge. His intensity should have frightened her, but she only felt closer to him. She was touched by his honesty.

"For someone who's never been in love, you're quite perceptive, aren't you?" Hook said begrudgingly but appreciatively.

"Maybe i was - once," she found herself replying. She never meant to show anyone her vulnerabilities, but this pirate seemed to possess the power to encourage it out of her. Emma never shared personal information about herself to anyone in her life - not even her mother - and yet she'd shared more with him in less than 10 hours. It scared and frustrated her.

...

After they'd worked together to put the giant to sleep, Emma and Killian ventured inside the castle to locate the magic compass. She'd been oddly impressed by his show of courage during the brief fight. Hook antagonised the giant to distract him while she threw the poppy powder on the giant's massive face. The pirate didn't seem at all afraid and she wondered what other horrors he might have seen in his time here on the cursed land.

"Give me a boost, would you love?" he asked. If Killian was being honest, he didn't really_ need_ one. He could have managed fine on his own. But he wanted to close the distance between Emma and himself. What better excuse than that?

"So i can't see what you're pocketing? No way. _You_ give _me_ a boost," she retorted almost immediately. You can never trust a pirate in a room full of treasures.

"Try something new, darling. Its called trust." He bore his eyes into hers. This woman had major trust issues, but it irked him that she couldn't trust him. He knew it was irrational. After all, she didn't really have a_ reason_ to. He was a pirate and they'd barely spent a day together. Hook could hardly blame the woman. Trust was hard to come by in his line of _duty_ too. But when Killian Jones looked into her eyes, he saw a reflection of himself. Emma was tough but broken, and in that moment, one of several they would eventually share together, she gained his trust implicitly and inexplicably. Jones was to fix her, and maybe, just maybe, she would fix him a little along the way too.

Before they could get anywhere, the awakened giant came tumbling into the room. A pile of stones fell and trapped Hook while Emma battled the beast. The princess trapped the creature with a large cage, set off by a trip wire she stumbled across earlier with Hook, and grabbed the compass. In return for her mercy, the giant uncovered a secret passageway that would lead her back to the beanstalk, to her family and friends. Sensing that this was her only chance to flee, she hurried out the opening, but stopped abruptly in her tracks. Emma hadn't planned on trusting Captain Hook, but within the 10 hours they'd spent together, he'd somehow managed to earn it. She found it only too easy to like him, which came as a shock to her because she'd never taken to somebody so quickly.

But what if her instincts were wrong? What if Hook was just using her to get the compass back to Cora? She'd watched the movie. Captain Hook wasn't a trustworthy man. She was never _supposed_ to trust him. She was too rational for that. Emma knew she couldn't risk her only chance of getting back to Henry by trusting a _pirate_. Ignoring the part of her that knew Hook wasn't lying, she convinced the giant to delay the pirate for 10 hours, giving her a head start.

Returning to where she knew Hook was still trapped under the rocks, Emma reached her hand out for him.

"You are bloody brilliant! Amazing!" Hook praised. If he ever admired her before, he admired her even more so now. Whoever heard of a princess engaging a giant in battle and emerging victorious? Killian always knew she would surprise him at every turn, but even_ he_ didn't expect _that_. He found himself highly impressed and _proud_ of the woman.

"Come. Lets go," he said, holding out his good hand for her. They were going to leave the damn place alive! But his relief was short-lived. Before he knew it, Emma chained his hand to the wall where he couldn't break free. Panic and a painfully surprising sense of betrayal flooded him.

"What are you doing? _What are you doing?_" he implored. Killian couldn't fathom why Emma would turn on him now, after the last 10 hours they'd shared together. 10 hours. It seemed like such an insignificant amount of time, yet he_ knew_ they'd managed to establish a connection. She tried to hide it, but he could see it in her eyes. He couldn't be the only one who felt it. He just _couldn't_.

"I-I cant..." she began. She could _hear_ the betrayal in his trembling voice, _see_ it in his searing eyes. As much as she didn't want Hook to affect her, she knew he did. Watching him plead was excruciatingly hard. She knew she was making a rational decision, but why did it feel so terribly _wrong_? Why did she feel like she was turning her back on him? Logically, she knew she had every reason to, but a part of her she tried to ignore knew she'd betrayed something special, something rare - his trust.

"Emma, look at me. Have i told you a lie? I brought you here. I risked my own safety to help you. The compass is in your _hand_. Why do this to me now?" he begged. Killian_ never _pleaded with _anybody - _it was too humiliating - but he was unable to help himself now. How could she leave him here after he'd lead her so far? How could he have been so _wrong_ about her? The _one_ person he'd trusted in almost 28 years since Milah. How could he have trusted the _one wrong person_?

"I cant take the chance that i'm wrong about you. I'm sorry," Emma replied. What else could she say? In her mind, she knew she was right, yet in her heart she knew she couldn't be more wrong. But she didn't have time for this. She needed to get back to Henry. Even if it means betraying someone she _knew_ was just like her. Broken. Abandoned. Spending time with him made her see that he wasn't _just_ a pirate. He was a lonely man. Killian Jones was a damaged soul and she was inflicting pain on the one person who understood her. She was hurting someone the way _she_ was hurt. She was abandoning him the way _she_ was abandoned.

"You're sorry? You're sorry?!" he shouted. "I got you here. I got you the compass!" His betrayal gave rise to explosive anger.

"_I_ got the compass," Emma stated. She would say anything to convince herself she was doing the right thing.

"Are you just going to leave me here to die? Let that beast eat me, crush my bones?" Killian growled. He still didn't understand how this woman could just let him _die_ here. She was strong and stubborn, but she wasn't a _killer_. How could she have looked into his eyes all this time, knowing that she was going to lock him up here afterwards?

"He's _not_ a beast. And you're _not_ gonna die. I just need a head start, thats all." The more she said, the less certain she was of her actions. But she feigned confidence in her words. She couldn't let him see that she cared. Caring wasn't an advantage to her. It was weakness, and she had to be tough to get back to her son. With that, she walked away, turning her back on the broken man behind her for what seemed like the last time.

"Swan. Swan! Swan!" he called out to her. It seemed like the only thing left to say, the only thing he could do. She'd left him here. _She'd abandoned him_. **Emma Swan was just like the rest.**


End file.
